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Anti-Cancer Recipes: Can Flaxseed Stave off Breast Cancer?

Know anyone who has breast cancer? Doing your best to avoid it? Then consider this: Studies are showing that flaxseed can protect against breast cancer and prolong survival in women who have it.

For more than 20 years, the grande dame of flaxseed research, Dr. Lilian Thompson of the University of Toronto, has been studying the effects of flaxseed on cancer, especially in the breast.

How does it work?

Flaxseed is rich in an omega 3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which inhibits inflammatory chemicals that stimulate the growth of malignant cells. It’s also, of all foods, the best source of lignans, compounds that have been shown to reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Lignans, in fact, are phytoestrogens–that is, estrogens from plants–and contrary to what many of us have been led to believe, plant estrogens may protect us from the stronger estrogens our bodies produce and the xenoestrogens found in environmental chemicals. How’s that?

Other mechanisms are also possibly at work here, she adds, and include reducing the activity of enzymes such as aromatase that are involved in estrogen synthesis and the expression of some genes, proteins, hormones and other growth factors that stimulate tumors.

Let’s look at the studies thus far.

The animal studies: Several studies indicate that flaxseed has anti-cancer effects and does not promote breast tumor growth, Thompson writes, in article published this year by the US Flax Institute.

It’s the clinical studies in humans that are considered the gold standard, however, assuming they’re conducted at their best (i.e., subjects include a control group, are randomly allocated and double-blinded so that nobody knows if she’s taking the flaxseed or placebo.)

Several years ago, Thompson conducted the first clinical trial of flaxseed–on postmenopausal women with breast cancer. She fed 25 g flaxseed or placebo for approximately 5 weeks to women awaiting surgery. The results were promising, showing significant changes for the better in the tumors of those who ate flaxseed.

“Clinical studies on breast cancer patients or premenopausal women with high risk of getting breast cancer are very limited,” says Thompson, “but those that have been conducted suggest that flaxseed is able to reduce the growth of breast tumors in postmenopausal women and that SDG (the main lignan) may also reduce the risk of getting breast cancer.”

Today, several clinical trials continue to investigate the almighty seed.

So, based on the evidence thus far, would it be reasonable to incorporate flaxseed into your diet?

If you don’t have breast cancer, yes, eat it, Thompson said in an email interview.

If you do have breast cancer, her answer is “Maybe, based on our clinical trial but more clinical trials with larger number of patients may be needed to confirm it.”

And what if you’re taking other anti-cancer drugs or doing radiation? Again, it’s too early for the wise doctor to answer. “Animal studies suggest that flaxseed does not interfere with tamoxifen treatment but rather enhances its effectiveness,” she said in the interview, and flaxseed oil has been shown to increase the effectiveness of herceptin, but clinical trials have not yet been done. One is in progress, however, on the interaction of flaxseed with aromatase inhibitors, a primary drug used to treat the disease. But no study has looked at radiation and the seed. Meanwhile, you’ll have to make your own decision: Talk to your doctor; weigh the evidence and the risks.

What kind and dose of flaxseed is best?

Choose either brown or yellow flaxseed but be sure you’re getting the most potent kind: One form of the yellow flaxseed called solin has been genetically engineered to have low ALA.

Thompson’s breast cancer studies have used 25 grams–or 2 ½ T–of ground flaxseed per day. “It’s unknown what the effects of greater than 25 grams/day might be,” she said. “Considering current data, we know that up to 25 g (2.5 T) did not cause adverse effect on breast cancer patients in short term studies. In healthy postmenopausal women, up to 40 g also did not show adverse effects.”

Because pulverizing the seeds releases the lignans and fragile fatty acids, it’s good to grind daily (Yes, a coffee grinder works) — and keep any leftover powder in the fridge or freezer in a small, dark airtight container. Chew well, and drink plenty of water to help move the fiber through your system. Underscore that latter point. In addition to its anti-cancer effects, flaxseed is a laxative, so start small and gradually increase your dose.

Recently I bought a large bag of ‘Golden Roasted Milled Flax Seed’. The bag reads 5 g of Omega-3 for 15g (2T) serving. Oops, it also says ‘Refrigerate after Opening’. Guess I’ll be replacing the bag with plain old seeds and grind fresh daily. Question is whether ‘roasted’ or ‘unroasted’ allows for maximum benefit?

I don’t think that question has been answered yet, Jim, so the best I can offer is this: All cancers are characterized by aberrant inflammatory cell signalling pathways–that is, cells sending messages within and among themselves that say “grow, grow, grow and do not diet.” That’s inflammation.

Only about a dozen such pathways have been identified, and many of them common to various kinds of cancer. The task for each of us is to understand which cell signalling pathways have gone awry–and then to work on changing the surrounding microenvironment in hopes of interfering with those signals and taming the bad guys.

Cancer boils down to inflammation and the oxidation that drives it. And no matter what kind of cancer you’re talking about, the general principles–and dietary guidelines– for quelling the fires of oxidation and inflammation are pretty much the same. Eat plants rich in fermentable fiber and phytonutrients! Now for the answer, or possible answer to your question (because nobody knows everything): The mechanism by which lignans protect against cancer may be due to their phytoestrogens and thus they not be so relevant in your case

Although flaxseed for GCT ovarian cancer hasn’t been studied specifically, the same mechanisms that seem to be at work in much breast cancer–balancing sex steroid hormones–would theoretically appear to apply for GCT as well. Ask your doctor to have a look at Dr. Lillian Thompson’s work– and opine. Let us know what s/he says.